With the Antwerp to Lisbon Race due to start this week, heres a look back at the 2010 tall ships gathering there Interesting weather conditions leading to strong lighting effects, some great displays and a ‘Grand Finale’ by the Indonesian Barquentine ‘Duwaruci’ for the parade of Sail

A Coruña the point of departure for the Spanish Armada and home to the legend of Maria Pita who’s bravery helped to repel an English incursion led by Sir Francis Drake. And lest we forget, the scene of Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore’s (1761-1809) heroic evacuation of troops during the Peninsular war. The ships were arriving after their […]

I can think of many reasons to visit Hartlepool but none better than to see Britain’s oldest warship afloat, the frigate ‘HMS Tricomalee’ and to photograph the gathering of the Tall Ships for the North Sea Regatta 2010. And have you heard the dark tale of the ‘Hartlepool Monkey’ washed ashore one night from the wreck […]

Leading on from my earlier post about the 2010 North Sea Regatta in Hartlepool, no visit to the port would be complete without a trip to see the HMS Trincomalee. She has the distinction of being the oldest British warship still afloat and is now the centrepiece of the Historic Dockyard Museum in Hartlepool. Built in Bombay and launched in October 1817, […]

Looking forward to the 2016 North Sea Tall Ships Regatta in Blyth. Here’s an image from the 2010 event in Hartlepool. A stormy start for the Parade of Sail shows the Dutch Schooner ‘Oosterschelde’ just before a cloud burst ! “The three-masted topsail schooner ‘Oosterschelde’ is the last remaining representative of the large fleet of schooners that […]

HMS Arethusa (originally posted February 2012) It was February 1st, a freezing cold day as I arrived at Maritima on a catch-up visit to see ships carver Andy Peters. Waterperry is quiet at this time of year and peering through the half-glazed door the workshop seemed empty, the lights on and not a soul in […]